


Another World Outside

by nai_nodayo



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Fluff, M/M, Possible smut, i'll add the rest of the tags as it progresses, kinda super powers woah, sort of character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-04-09 08:07:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4340687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nai_nodayo/pseuds/nai_nodayo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gerard woke up confused, and felt like he was having a déjà vu. It turns out he wasn't wrong. He found a letter from <i>himself</i> hidden in his sock drawer, and suddenly everything made sense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Saturday

**Author's Note:**

> this idea suddenly popped into my head so i wrote it because why not try writing another multi chapter 
> 
> im struggling to write more chapters but this wont be very long or exceed 20 chapters  
> •••  
> Title taken from Professional Griefers by Deadmau5 and Gerard Way

**There was blood and it smelled revolting, like copper mixed with the smell of alcohol. Frank was in the middle of it all, lifeless, pale, and his eyes shut.**

**And then the scenery changed. Gerard was drowning, the sudden loss of air caused him to choke on the water he was submerged in. He inhaled by reflex and the liquid flooded his lungs. Frank needed him.**

**Gerard's vision started to darken, and then he could hear the ringing in his ears.**

The sound of the alarm clock cut through the silence of Gerard's bedroom, and instantly, he awoke, and his hand flew to his throat. He swore he was choking on water moments ago. His heart was racing, but his eyes still bleary as he turned to bring a hand down to shut the noisy clock. Big red numbers mocked him, it was five in the morning. He had no idea why the hell he thought of setting the damn thing to ring at _five in the fucking morning on a Saturday._

Wait, Saturday? He narrowed his crusty eyelids and focused on the red digits on the clock. Sure enough, it was a Saturday, October twenty fourth. _October twenty fourth?_ wasn't that last week's date? Gerard scrambled through the information he had in his head. 

Supposedly, it would be November the first today. Why was he back to the twenty fourth? If he was back to the twenty fourth, wouldn't that mean Frank would _die_ in a week? Gerard's heart raced and his blood rushed when he thought of his friend (and crush, haha) dying _again_.

But Gerard had no recollection of what had happened in between the twenty fourth and the thirty first. All he knew, Frank was going to die on his birthday, the thirty first. 

Gerard was devastated. But right now, his mind ran towards other things. Would Frank still be alive? Can he save him? Does anybody know time just went back to repeat a fucking week? Or was Gerard the only one?

People would probably think he's a delusional freak.

It was only five thirty but Gerard miraculously got up and shuffled to take a long shower and to ponder about his dilemma.

 

He stepped out of the shower with the towel around his hips, his hair dripping droplets of water all over the floor. Gerard reached out for a presumably clean shirt sticking out from his drawer and a pair of boxers. As he pulled on the fabric, a sheet of paper fell with it. He eyed the paper on the ground while he dressed. That was strange, he was sure he didn't stick sheets of paper into his drawers? But then again, his room looked like it was hit by a fucking hurricane, his shit was everywhere. And he was Gerard Way.

He tugged his shirt over his head quickly and reached out for the paper lying in the floor. When he folded it open, more pages stuck to each other fell out. The upper right of each paper was labeled with a date, all seven were consecutive numbers.

Gerard looked at the first page.

_October 24, Saturday_

_Gerard, you have a week. A week to make shit right. Now don't freak out, it's you from the future (and another universe). Surprise!_

_I'll get straight to the point, you have to save Frank. Not just any kind of saving, you have to keep him from dying. I know, it sounds crazy but believe me. If you don't, well it's your fucking loss. Have fun getting stuck in that time loop._

_But seriously if you do not believe me at all, read the next paragraphs._

_At exactly 7:04 am, Mikey will come into your room and ask for your copy of the latest batman issue you got two days ago (October 22)._

__

The door clicked open and there stood Mikey Way in all his lanky glory. Gerard turned to look at his clock by the bed.

_It was literally 7:04 on the dot._

He nearly dropped the papers he was reading from shock.

"Hey, you're up early. Can I borrow your batman?" Mikey asked. Gerard was freaking out. It was true. He really did ask for the batman.

"Yeah, uh, just let me get it." Gerard mumbled and shoved the papers under his blanket and grabbed his batman from his bedside table and handed it to Mikey.

"Thanks." Mikey said and ran off to his room. Gerard was _still_ trying not to freak out.

He scrambled back to retrieve the pages from under the bedsheets and kept reading.

_I bet I was fucking right._

Gerard shuddered a little. It still could've been a coincidence.

_  
If you still are doubting this letter (or not) I demand you to keep reading the next few paragraphs._

_Later today, after lunch, you'll get a call from Frank inviting you over to his house. No matter what the fuck you had planned, drop it and accept the invitation, because I didn't and I regret that._

_Your decisions are extremely crucial and it could possibly affect the future greatly. This 'time travel' thing is a little hard to wrap your mind around but you'll understand it eventually._

_Every date here, I wrote down what happened as detailed as I can. But everything here was written according to what occurred in my timeline. Like I said earlier, your decisions affect tomorrow and can change what will happen, so whatever happens in your timeline will not be the same as mine._

_If everything goes wrong, you'll end up with Frank dead (which was what happened in my timeline). But I wrote this to you because I still believe he can be saved._

_-G  
_

Gerard had to set the paper aside and hold his head in his hand. Time travel? Frank really dying? His mind and memories were a blur but yes, he did have that dream of Frank the other night that felt way too real. He wasn't even sure anymore if it was a dream or if it actually happened and he fucking time travelled back or something.

He let out a deep breath and leaned back to lie on his bed. Gerard really wanted to go back to sleep and hope this was all actually just a joke. He wondered if he could legitimately time travel. He tried concentrating his thoughts on reversing time and closed his eyes.

His bedroom door suddenly opened and he turned to his clock by the bed again. 7:04. Gerard saw the person who entered was Mikey _again_.

"Hey, you're up early. Can I borrow your batman?" Mikey asked the exact same question he did when he came to the room before. Gerard was trying so hard not to yell because he _did_ reverse time and Mikey didn't even notice anything.

He was silent and gaping for a few seconds before Mikey spoke up.

"Gerard, are you okay?" He eyed his bewildered brother. Immediately, Gerard snapped out of his trance and stuttered.

"Y-Yeah, hold on..." He reached over across towards the bedside table for the comic that was still miraculously there even though he literally gave it to Mikey just minutes ago before rewinding time.

"Thanks." Mikey said and left the room as if nothing crazy or déjà vu like happened to him. Everything in Gerard's mind was screaming even louder. So he assumed nobody had an idea that time just warped back.

His head started to hurt from overthinking so lied down on the bed and tossed the letters to the foot of the bed. He'll take care of that later.

Gerard closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.


	2. Cornflakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i recently got into the writing club and hopefully i'll still be able to update this at least once a week

When Gerard woke up, it was already late in the morning, almost afternoon. He thanked whichever god was listening because he remembered to shut the tiny blinds that covered his one and only window. Gerard wasn't a vampire, but he hated the sun. He didn't want light seeping into his dim and comfortable basement. He liked it that way.

He slowly got up and remembered everything that had been going on for the past few hours. Gerard's caught in some time loop and he's supposed to be saving Frank. Without thinking, he grabbed the letters he left at the foot of his bed earlier. He read over the second page for the first date.

According to it, he'd fall asleep after Mikey came into his room (which actually happened just now too), and in a bit, he'd wake up at nearly afternoon. All of it had just happened and the panic was starting to sink in even more.

What if he shouldn't be doing this? What if he was going against time and space by saving Frank? What were consequences? How did the letter get to him? Alternate universes really existed?

Gerard's brain hurt by just thinking of the possibilities alone. He wished it would be easy to save Frank. Time travel theories be fucked, Gerard was going to look into the trusty internet for some answers.

He pulled open his old and beat up, Jurassic-age laptop from his desk. His room was fairly small and the clutter made it even smaller. Gerard put the heavy block onto his lap, flipped it open and typed into the already open Google tab.

It didn't take longer than five minutes until Gerard was shutting his laptop down and putting it away. Those theories written online confused him even more and left him with more questions.

But there was this one thing that bugged him the most. The letter he got mentioned something about everything single thing he'd do could possibly change the future. Gerard decided not to think too hard on the theories again yet his mind continuously drifted back and forth between reality and the realm of possibility.

He threw off the covers on him and got up, he decided he wouldn't wait for Frank's call anymore. Gerard was sure there would be a consequence to this, good or bad.

 

Mikey was by the counter, leaning on it, a spoon in hand and Gerard's Batman comic held in the other. He ate from the bowl of cereal in front of him while his eyes focused on the thing he was reading.

"I thought you wouldn't wake up until later." He said, not wavering or taking his eyes off of the comic. Gerard just grumbled quietly and made himself a bowl of cereal like Mikey's. 

"Fuck, Mikey you finished all of the honey covered ones?" Gerard groaned when he realized the box Mikey set out on the counter was already empty. His younger brother nodded and shoved another mouthful of the last honey covered cornflakes.

"I think there's some more but they probably don't have the honey coating. Mom went to grocery." Mikey (nearly) spat while chewing his cornflakes. Gerard sighed abandoned his supposed bowl for cornflakes and went to make himself a cup of coffee.

"I'm heading over to Frank's in a bit, so in case Mom wonders," Gerard made some hand gestures while taking out the pot of coffee that was already waiting for him. He poured some into a cup and drank a little. He seemed to have grabbed Mikey's attention because Mikey put down his comic and was now raising an eyebrow at his brother.

"Frank is your boyfriend, right?"

Gerard almost spat out his drink from shock and maybe it was a bit too hot.

_"What?"_

"Yeah, you guys are dating right? I mean Pete told--"

"Pete Wentz?"

"The one and only."

Gerard cursed into his mug before taking another cautious sip. Of course it would be Pete fucking Wentz. He and Pete were neither friends nor enemies. Pete was just a huge gossip buzz in class and effortlessly dropped rumors here and there for fun. Gerard sometimes wondered how the hell was someone like Pete best friends with one of the nicest people in school, Patrick Stump.

Gerard didn't have a lot of friends, Frank was considered his closest friend. _Frank._ Memories of the dream from last night momentarily flashed in his vision. Gerard staggered a bit and managed to hold onto the edge of the counter for support.

"Are you _sure_ you're okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Mikey noticed his brother's deathly white knuckles and paler features. Gerard nodded weakly and drank the last of his coffee in a rush. And just like that, the killer migraine faded away.

"I'll go now." Gerard said and threw on his jacket and hastily tied on his sneakers by the front door, then left immediately, not bothering to wait for a reply from Mikey. 

Gerard's heart pounded against his chest while walking the way to Frank's. He wasn't physically tired at all but he didn't follow the letter and he's probably fucking up the whole universe by changing his decisions. He already had this bizarre _time lord power._

Once he reached Frank's, he was so close to running away from the front and calling it quits. He took a deep breath before pressing the doorbell. It took some time for someone to answer, but Gerard was sure Frank was home because he heard the Misfits blasting from the second floor, despite being outside. 

The door opened to a tired, smiling Frank with his hair ruffled messily as if he just got up from bed. He had a huge striped jumper on which seemed to be his favorite thing to wear aside from his band shirts with fraying hems from being over worn. Gerard just stared at him for a few seconds, damn, he wished he had the power to stop time too so he could just stare at Frank's pretty face the whole day. He cringed at himself for sounding like a creep. 

"Gerard, what's up?" Frank raised an arched eyebrow and motioned for his friend to come in. Gerard shuffled inside and kicked off his shoes by the door out of courtesy. 

"I just, uh, wanted to hang out." Gerard answered while tucking a stray lock of his dyed (supposedly) red hair. He really needed to recolor soon, his dye faded to a slight orange hue he didn't like very much and Mikey constantly commented on how his head was beginning to look like a carrot. 

"Oh, that's cool. I was going to ask you later on but you're here now." Frank smiled and offered Gerard to play video games. Gerard nodded enthusiastically and followed Frank up to his room. He had been playing moments before Gerard rang the bell and he was more than happy to have someone play Tekken with him. Tekken got really boring if it was played alone. 

It wasn't long before Gerard finally gave up on trying to beat Frank in the video games they were playing. He just sprawled onto Frank's bed face first and groaned miserably. 

"I give up, you win." Gerard said into a pillow and sighed audibly. Frank set his controller down and scooted up the bed, closer to Gerard. 

"Sorry, but not really." He smiled. Frank suddenly jolted back a little when Gerard's forearm brushed against knees. He slid out of his bed and onto the floor, mumbling something under his breath and getting far from contact with Gerard. The older one lifted his head from the pillow and eyed Frank curiously. 

"What?" 

Frank had his controller in his hands and he seemed to be staring at it, not bothering to play at all. 

"N-Nothing." He said quietly and continued playing. Gerard was screaming inside his head, was he going to rewind time just to find out what Frank said? In all honesty, rewinding sucked and Gerard always felt like shit after. But why not give it a shot again anyway? 

He took a deep breath and concentrated. The world before his eyes turned hazy, the figures were blurred and his head felt like it was going to split open. The reverse ended as soon as it started, leaving Gerard with another nasty headache. Frank was no longer on the floor but he was on the bed instead. 

"What did you say earlier?" Gerard blurted out without thinking. Oh shit. People didn't know what happened if he reversed time. Frank gave him a puzzled look. Gerard quickly shook his head and muttered a 'never mind'. His head still hurt a lot and felt like it was getting worse, it was hurting way longer than the first time. Was it supposed to be like this? Gerard excused himself and stood up to get a drink. And then the next thing he knew, his vision went black. 


	3. Goner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuck space theories

It was cold and dark, there was someone calling him but his brain couldn't process so well anymore and it was deafeningly quiet. Gerard felt like he was floating, and his ears were ringing.

He couldn't will himself to wake up, he was stuck in this place between reality and a universe he wasn't supposed to be in. The two seemed to be merging together, forming something horrible and too (hyper realistic.) Flashbacks of Frank flickered in Gerard's mind and it made his head feel like it was splitting open.

The stench of blood and rubbing alcohol filled the air once again and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. And then, the blurry scene before him cleared.

Frank was lying on a hospital bed, deathly pale. He was hooked up to a machine that was beeping angrily, and seemed to be mocking Gerard. It wouldn't take a genius to find out what was happening.

Before Gerard could even scream, the world around him fell apart, literally.

And then he was back, bolting upright, clutching at the sheets and sweating. He woke up screaming a wordless scream, Frank was there in seconds. Frank was fine, and of course, oblivious to what the hell was happening in Gerard's head.

Gerard remembered, passing out suddenly after he had made some petty excuse of getting a drink or pissing or whatever it was that came to his head that sounded believable.

"Calm down, it's just a dream..." Frank hushed him and stroked his back in attempt to stabilize his breathing. That definitely was _not_ a dream. Was the future trying to fuck with Gerard's head _or_ was the future trying to fuck with Gerard's head? Yeah there was only one answer, the future was fucking with his head for sure.

"Don't leave me." Gerard felt a few tears stinging his dry eyes, he didn't want to see Frank like that anymore. So frail and fragile, one touch could shatter him. Despite having the ability to reverse time and change bits and pieces of the past, Gerard still felt small and insignificant to the universe. He was like the butterfly that soared around, all prettied up, yet no one acknowledged his existence. But with just the flap of his wings, he can destroy, he can create. The possibilities were endless. The limit was the universe.

"I'm here, I'm here." Frank said it like a mantra and wrapped his arms around Gerard. The managed to regain his composure and he was able to breathe properly. It was easy to say that he should just forget about it, but doing it isn't exactly easy peasy pumpkin pie.

 

It was a miracle Gerard got home in one piece, he probably looked like a slightly wasted man walking down the street with a clueless look on his face as he stared into space (oh, poetry). Mikey was no longer in the kitchen (of course, he wouldn't be sitting there from the whole afternoon to night time, picking at his soggy cereal while texting and reading comics). 

The sounds of a fuzzy bass line came from his room, Mikey was too occupied playing in his room to notice or hear anything going on outside. Gerard slipped into his own room quietly, his mother was already home for sure, the car was parked right outside. However, she wasn't downstairs and Gerard assumed she went up and slept early. His dad had work until later that night, so he wouldn't be home until midnight.

Gerard sighed in relief when he close the basement door and he landed on his bed, his joints loosening up instantly and getting comfortable.

He laid there, motionless for a few minutes and then decided to play some music out loud. God bless he had the basement, it muffled the noisy music he played at unnatural hours of the night, when he was up and drawing with his creative muse yelling at him to get a move on. Sometimes he jotted down a bunch of lyrics too, but it wasn't like was going to turn them into actual songs. Gerard believed he didn't have the patience neither the skill to do so anyway.

He thumbed through the CD collection by his player and picked out the first thing he saw. Bowie night it is indeed. Gerard took out the disc and placed it into the player. He could never go wrong with Low.

When the first track started playing, he laid back in his bed and stared up at his blank ceiling. Sudden thoughts overcame Gerard, prompting him to read the letter from himself that had fallen out of his drawer. He reached out to his night stand, where he'd left it before heading to Frank's, only to find out _it wasn't there_.

Gerard had never got up from bed so fast in his life. He frantically searched the sides of the table, maybe it fell in the corner? He pulled open all the drawers, there was still nothing. He kicked away the pile of dirty clothing covering the floor, maybe it got mixed up with the shit he left on the ground? There were only a couple of colored pencils littering the bedside floor and maybe some paintbrushes here and there. But no letter.

Gerard practically flipped his basement upside down just to look for the _damn sheets of paper._ It was gone. It disappeared. And he knew how fucked he was at that very moment.

There goes his only shot at getting shit done right. He sank into his bed again and groaned miserably. The letter _should_ be the least of his worries, for now. He couldn't depend on his own words forever. There was more to this situation other than those papers. Why did Gerard pass out at Frank's earlier? Did he use too much of his power? Was he not supposed to know something and was going against the theory of quantum _fucking_ space or what?

Even if Gerard would do his research on time travel and space-time theories, he'd end up in a worse state. His life at that moment seemed to be a story from sci-fi books that should _not_ be occurring in reality. What the hell was reality now anyway?

He fell asleep to the sound of Bowie playing softly in the background. Gerard needed an actual break from the present time. Sleep should help, he assumed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No seriously, doing research on these space-time theories is really hard.


	4. Sunday filler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> late update school is stressful

As much as he was denying the reality before him, Gerard had to get up that Sunday morning. The sun filtered into the room slowly, through the tiny window. The golden drops and beams casted shadows and lights onto the bedroom floor, the dust particles appearing and floating about. It was dreamy and warm.

Gerard woke up really slowly, and a bit like those Disney princesses who wake up with flawless hair and to the sound of birds singing by their window. Okay, never mind, nothing like them at all. His hair was the usual, unkempt and greasy. Besides, no birds ever come out to hang by Gerard's tiny window. His eyelids felt crusty and dry, but he wasn't having massive headache so it was all good.

He leaned over to check the date by the digital clock on his bedside. It was already the twenty fifth. He sighed in relief, no weird time traveling while he slept.

Sleeping _way too early_ fucked up Gerard's sleep schedule, now he was going to be getting up at 7 in the morning everyday. Unless he pulls an all-nighter. Speaking of all nighters, coffee was the first on the agenda for the day.

Waking up felt an awful lot like the previous day, Gerard was a little paranoid it felt like it was still Saturday. He decided it was best to ignore it and went up the stairs to get his coffee, then, he'd retreat back into the basement and finish up the painting he had been working on.

 

Remember what he said about finishing up a painting? _Fuck that._ His art block was still going strong, so it looked like wouldn't be finishing anything anytime soon. Gerard tossed his paint brush onto the table (but away from the painting itself), not caring about the flecks of red paint staining the dark wood of the table top. He wasn't even _halfway_ done with the day yet and he already felt like he should go back to sleep. But then again, there is nothing as too much sleep for Gerard Way.

He landed on his bed face first, and that was only when he felt kind of bad for running out of Frank's house without a fucking explanation. He was sure he freaked him out a little with the sudden dream outburst, but it wasn't like Gerard could manipulate his own mind. He started wondering, why was it him who had to be the one to save Frank? Damn, the questions will never end.

Gerard was trying to focus in the moment and right now, he wanted to figure out how to use these new powers bestowed upon him by the universe. Mikey was going to be the perfect test subject. He went ahead and called his younger brother to come down to the basement, this surely had to work, right? He did it on Mikey already once, by accident.

"What a fucking miracle, Gerard." Mikey said, unamused when he arrived in his brother's lair. Gerard hardly called him down here, it was usually Mikey who went down out of his own free will. But ever since Frank came around, he didn't dare come down without yelling from the other side of the door. He claimed that he didn't want to walk in on Gerard and Frank fucking. That made both of them extremely embarrassed.

Maybe it was because they were noisy when they'd play Gerard's video games. But then again, they didn't understand how yelling at each other while playing Mario Kart sounded like sex to Mikey.

"Did you call me down here for nothing?" Mikey stared at his brother sitting up on the bed. He had been spacing out a lot lately.

"No, uh, I've gotta ask you something."

Mikey raised an eyebrow. Was Gerard finally going to admit he was fucking Frank all this time? Mikey sure hoped it wasn't something like that. That would just be _disturbing._

Gerard was quiet for a while, like he was too deep in thought. His eyebrows were drawn together with his eyes narrowed.

"Are you like, fucking Frank or something?" Mikey quipped. Gerard glared at him and shifted in his seat nervously. Okay, maybe he can rewind time there? Awkward tension was in the air. Gerard took a deep breath and set his mind on the time. He counted in his head and closed his eyes, then he felt himself jolt back a little from the force and Mikey was nowhere to be seen.

It worked.

This was for real.

Gerard _still_ couldn't get over it. His life was like straight out of a comic.


	5. Fifth Period Massacre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mondays are always shitty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> havent updated for SO LONG 
> 
> i've been writing loads of stuff and currently loads of crap are falling on me and also exams
> 
> but whatever here it is

Fast forward, it was Monday now. Another day in the hell hole every single teenager dreaded. Mikey _still_ asked Gerard whether he was fucking Frank or not, Gerard guessed it was something unavoidable and said no anyway. Mikey however, wasn't very convinced. 

Although, Gerard didn't actually 'fast forward' time himself, he could only rewind it, sadly. There were limits to his powers. It's only been a few days since he found out about them, but again, he didn't have a lot of time to do what he had to do.

Getting to school didn't take long, and almost everyday, Gerard would go with Frank. Of course, with Mikey in tow. They were already by the intersection near Frank's place to wait for him. Gerard was buried under layers of sweaters and coats. Mikey was somewhat still alive despite only wearing one damn sweater and a ridiculously thin jacket over it.

Strangely, Frank was nowhere to be seen yet, and he was usually the one who got here before the rest of them. Gerard anxiously paced around without realizing. Surely, Frank _couldn't_ be dead yet. Was he sick? Frank had the worst immune system, and the cold weather just made it worse.

"Okay, spit it out, what's the secret?" Mikey crossed his arms and watched his older brother pace around hopelessly. He has been acting strange since Saturday fucking morning and Mikey _had_ to know what was up.

"What secret?" Gerard sputtered, obviously sounding like he had something up. Mikey sometimes didn't understand why his brother even tried to get away with these kinds of stuff. 

"You've been acting all weird when it's got to do something with Frank." Mikey glared at him. His brother avoided eye contact and continued staring at the floor.

Saying something like "oh it's just time travel Mikey, nothing big and Frank's gonna die by the way" wasn't going to make much sense. Those shit only happened in sci-fi and crap.

"I, uh, he's sick." Gerard lied through his teeth. Mikey rolled his eyes.

"If he's sick then why the fuck are we still hanging out here? He probably won't come anyway." Mikey grumbled and walked past his older brother to go continue the walk to school. Gerard sighed and pulled out his phone to send a text to Frank that they went ahead. Gerard felt like shit for ditching him. Hopefully he'd understand.

 

It was already fifth period and Frank was still nowhere to be found. Gerard had classes with Frank that period and so the seat beside him was unoccupied. For once in his whole school career, Gerard was early for Math class. There wasn't any teacher yet so he decided to take out his phone and slip it under his desk to hide it from view. He threw out a couple of his pens and his Math notebook (full of doodles) to make it seem like he was doing productive bullshit.

His phone notified him (silently) that Frank had replied to his text message earlier that day.

_yea its ok not goin anyway -frnk_

Gerard sent Frank another text.

_are you like actually sick ? -G_

Frank's reply came almost instantly.

_uh yeah -frnk_

Well, at least Gerard didn't lie about Frank being absent.

The classroom door opened to reveal the Math teacher, Mr. Salazar and several students. The teacher stared at Gerard oddly, as if like he wasn't usually part of the class. He was just always late. Gerard kept his head low and hid his face. He didn't care if the teacher didn't know his name. It didn't really matter to Gerard.

 

Halfway into the class, Gerard was tuning out his surroundings and was _absolutely_ , one hundred percent ready to drop out of senior year and never go back to school ever again. He had his pencil in one hand, doodling small aliens jumping right smack in the middle of all his (non-existent) notes.

"Mr. Way?"

Motherfucking shit.

Gerard froze and nearly dropped his pencil. His teacher was standing right across him, but thankfully not close enough to see what else was he drawing on the paper. He _loathed_ recitation, what more, _Math class recitation._

"Can you tell us what the value of x is for this number?" Mr. Salazar said sternly while raising an eyebrow at Gerard. He certainly did not have high expectations from him. Well that was to be expected, because Gerard was literally barely passing Math.

Gerard set his pencil down and stood up, shaking a little from anxiety. He stole a quick glance at the board. What the _fuck?_ It was literally covered with equations and solutions and Gerard didn't even know which was the one he had to answer. He swallowed nervously. To bullshit or to not bullshit. Either one was going to make him look bad. Unless he got a ridiculously lucky guess.

"69?" He said quietly with a confused tone. Several kids snickered and mumbled in reaction. Mr. Salazar wasn't very pleased.

"Way, please see me after school." He said, half sighed, and went back to the front of the classroom to continue lecturing.

Gerard shamefully sat down and clenched the pencil he held moments ago. Staying late on a Monday wasn't ideal. He groaned quietly in his seat out of frustration, then thanked whatever being was up there that he sat in the back of the class.

"The value of x is 19 over 7," The teacher said monotonously and wrote it on god-knows-where on the fucking board. "Now please answer the next numbers."

Multiple students groaned but carried on to do the task anyway. Gerard wasn't having any of this bullshit.

"That includes you Mr. Way." Salazar said from the front.

Fuck it.

Gerard stood up, frustrated and took all his belongings and shoved them into his bag. He kicked his chair to tuck it in and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Mr.--"

It was too late, Gerard was already down the hall and rounding the corner, blinking back hot tears in his eyes. He had no idea why he stormed out, he never did shit like that. So he ran, because it was all he was ever good at.

 

Gerard found himself standing on Frank's back door, because the front door was too obvious. He sent a text to Frank to tell him that he was there, his hands were still trembling a little. And then Frank was downstairs in seconds, ushering Gerard inside before it could rain, the dark clouds overhead were already rumbling and the air was humid and cold.

Once they were upstairs in Frank's room, Gerard dumped his bag down by the door and stood there for awhile, spacing out again. Did he follow what the letter said? He suddenly regret not reading it over well, he shouldn't have just skimmed through the pages.

"Gerard? Gerard, please talk to me." Frank was now in front of Gerard and grabbing him by the shoulders gently. 

"You've been spacing out since Saturday, don't you still have class?" Frank asked softly. His hair was a mess as usual, but it seemed like he just got up from bed. He must've been sleeping a fever off judging by his flushed face and way too warm hands.

Gerard couldn't help but laugh a bit cynically. He and Frank almost always skipped classes, but it was _always_ Frank who convinced him to skip class. Gerard was a bit of a 'play it safe' kind of person so he didn't like skipping classes very much. Frank probably found it strange that Gerard was now running out of his classes to his own accord.

"I don't know. I-It's bad today." Gerard stuttered and bit down on his lip, avoiding eye contact from Frank. He felt so fucking selfish and weak, coming over just to mope about his fucking stress. Frank probably had his own problems and surely, he didn't have time to help Gerard. After all, it was supposed to be Gerard saving Frank.

His head felt too heavy, he couldn't even tell whether his vision was being blurred from tears or because of his headache.

"Hey, Gee," Frank used the nickname fondly, "It's fine to have bad days, just rest okay? You can take my bed, I can sleep on the couch downstairs."

Gerard shook his head. "No, you stay in your bed, you're sick!" Frank hushed him and brought him over to the bed and got ready to tuck him in.

"Fuck no, you are staying here because you need it more than I do." Frank pulled a new blanket from the closet and threw it over Gerard to replace the other one.

"But,"

"Nope." Frank tucked Gerard in and glared at him. Sometimes, Frank was such a mom.

"Get some sleep, nerd." Frank teased him a little because if he didn't, he wouldn't be Frank. Gerard sunk further into the covers and sighed. Maybe he did need some more sleep, he didn't get a lot the last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comment if u got time haha


	6. Finding Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this story is getting really hard to write sorry for irregular updates, school is being hard on me

It was already dark out, and for once, Gerard woke up, relaxed. He wasn't drowning in cold sweat or choking or anything. He hadn't had a good sleep like this since Saturday.

He scrubbed at his eyes, blinking them open blearily as he slid out of the bed. Right, he was at Frank's. Gerard was afraid he had overstayed, but when his vision wasn't blurry anymore, he found Frank passed out in the chair, his head rested on his arms on the desk. His face looked slightly flushed from his fever. 

Gerard rushed over and placed a hand over Frank's forehead. He quickly drew it back upon contact because Frank was radiating _more heat_ compared to earlier. Concerned for his friend's well-being, Gerard lifted Frank off the chair to bring him over to the more comfortable bed. Shit, Gerard felt guilty for taking the fucking bed, he should've fought for the couch.

Why the fuck did Frank even fall asleep on the chair when he was supposed to be downstairs on the couch? He was way too concerned for Gerard more than himself.

"Ugh..." Frank groaned and stirred when he was set down on the bed. 

"Frank you fucking idiot, why didn't you sleep on the bed instead?" Gerard half mumbled and snatched the covers off the bed and threw them around Frank's trembling body. It was actually pretty cold, and Gerard was freezing his fucking toes off by just standing on the floor.

"You... sleep..." Frank muttered in his sleep, curling into himself in attempt to keep warm. He kept drawing his eyebrows together, as if his head was hurting.

"Gee," He said, slowly opening his eyes and wincing at the light coming from the bulb on the ceiling.

"'m gonna get you a wet towel." Gerard walked over to the bathroom and grabbed a small towel from Frank's cabinet to wet under running water. He hurriedly squeezed it over the sink and let the excess drops of water fall before bringing it over to Frank.

When the cool cloth touched his burning forehead, Frank flinched a little and hiked up the covers as high as he could to cover half of his face.

"Do you need medicine?" Gerard asked once he smoothed out the cloth on Frank's warm forehead.

"Yeah, I think there's Advil or something in my sock drawer..." Frank mumbled quietly, and sighed. Being sick was shitty, and having a shitty immune system was shittier.

"Sock drawer?" Gerard made a face at him before he bent down to open the sock drawer by the bed. Frank kept shit in the weirdest places. Gerard once found a guitar pick in the soap holder the last time. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to find the silver foil packaging amongst the colorful array of socks Frank owned.

There was a conveniently placed water glass on the night stand so Frank just told Gerard to fill it up with tap water. Better than swallowing dry.

"I should head home," Gerard said once he saw the clock on the wall. He wasn't able to tell his parents that he stayed over at Frank's, or that he walked out in the middle of Math class.

"You sure?" Frank said from under the covers, slightly muffled by the thick comforter.

"Yeah, I wasn't able to tell my mom I stayed over." Gerard said and began to lace up his shoes on the floor. Frank sat up and held onto the cloth placed on his forehead.

"Okay... see you." He said, and leaned back against the sheets. Gerard was already up and slinging his bag over his shoulder, he's got his keys in one hand and the other hand on the doorknob.

"Yeah, bye Frank. Get well." 

 

Gerard was able to make it home without waking up a single soul in the house at midnight. He sighed once he made it to the basement, the dim lights were always inviting.

Wait. He stopped moving and clutched the keys in his hand. The lights were open? He dropped his bag into the corner and peeked around to see Mikey with a scowl on his face. At the exact same moment, Mikey turned around to see his older brother, the expression on his face softened and turned into one laced with confusion.

"Gerard," Mikey held several sheets of paper, hastily stapled together, and it looked well read. He slightly raised the bunch of papers he was holding and motioned for Gerard to come closer. Mikey looked almost terrified and discombobulated.

"What's this?" He nearly shoved the papers into Gerard's hands. Gerard was able to get a good look on the handwriting and the dates written at the top corner.

October thirty first.

"Is this true?" Mikey pointed at the last few sentences jot down at the end of the final page, the one he was reading earlier.

 

_And yet, I couldn't save him in the end. I couldn't save Frank._

_I want you to change that._

_-G_

Suddenly, the world was spinning around him, Gerard felt weightless and light headed. He fell forward, Mikey had barely caught him, and the pain in his head fucked with his vision. Liquid was running out of his nose and dribbling down his chin as he struggled to stay upright. He was losing control. Mikey was trembling and threw aside the damned letter, away from the two of them and tried to drag Gerard into the bathroom to wash off his bloody nose.

Maybe, this wasn't supposed to happen. Mikey wasn't supposed to know. Yet Gerard no longer had the power to change it.

 

Gerard had fainted.


	7. He's Bendy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate chapter name:::  
> big gay brothers yelling abt their crushes

How many times had Gerard passed out in three days? A lot, that's for sure. But never in his entire life he woke up feeling as shitty as it can get. 

He felt like he was about to throw up, his stomach churned as he hurriedly jumped out of bed and dashed for the toilet. His hands were shaking while he held onto the bowl and heaved dryly. Spots of white danced across his vision. Gerard spat into the toiled before he slumped against the wall of his small bathroom. He hated this. It felt like the _shittiest_ hangover he could ever have. Hell, he didn't even drink last night.

Unsuccessful on his retching, Gerard sighed and cupped his hands under the running water from the faucet. He threw some on his face and gargled a little to get the slight taste of bile in his mouth. He pushed himself off the counter and trudged back to his bed to flop down on it. This was almost like a routine already. 

The door opened to reveal a sleepy Mikey, who held a very well read sheet of paper in his hand. Gerard assumed it was the same letter from the previous night. The one when he fainted.

"Gerard, I need you to explain," Mikey held up the paper. "This."

Gerard's little brother looked genuinely lost and confused despite him looking sleepy too. Gerard was too tired himself to explain the current situation he was in. Time was ticking, he could reverse but that would drain him to the point where _he_ could die. So Gerard went for the most straightforward answer.

"I can bend time."

Mikey stared at him for a moment, not moving. Then, he raised his eye brows in question.

"You sure?" He said with an almost expressionless face. Gerard nodded. He felt like he sounded like a lunatic, like he's gone mad. Mikey looked at the paper for a few moments before looking back up at his brother. He knew Gerard wasn't the type of person who'd try to prank this way, take time to write something _as long as the letter,_ and make up some intricate story for it.

"...You believe me?" Gerard mumbled in disbelief. Mikey shrugged and put the paper aside on top of the small table by the door.

"I don't have solid proof, and I'd like some, but I guess I sort of believe you." Mikey stood there motionless, leaning against the doorframe.

Gerard bit on his lip nervously. He wanted to show proof to Mikey, but how? Mikey was about to turn on his heel and leave when Gerard stopped him.

"Wait." Gerard said. Mikey turned back around to face him.

"I can tell you exactly what you're going to say ten seconds from now." Gerard proposed. _Fuck._ He had to come up with something quick.

"Okay." Mikey looked at him hesitantly but stayed quiet for ten seconds anyway. After the time passed, he said something. 

"Pete Wentz and I are dating." 

Gerard nearly yelled in surprise. _Pete fucking Wentz?_ Why was Mikey with Pete fucking Wentz? That was the weirdest thing Mikey could even say.

"Ten seconds are done and I fucking said it. I'm done." Mikey spat, blushing like mad and spun quickly to leave. Gerard snapped out of his thoughts and remembered what he was here for. He took a quick breath and suddenly, everything before him was like a dream, ghostly looking, traces of Mikey's figure against the doorframe, and then Gerard was back to what happened not more than twenty seconds ago.

"I don't have solid proof, and I'd like some, but I guess I sort of believe you." Mikey was back to leaning against the doorframe, in the same fashion he was when he said the exact same words to Gerard moments ago. Gerard was still sitting on the same spot of his bed. Okay, this was his chance to take.

Before Mikey could even fully turn around, Gerard called him out to come back, the same way he did previously.

"I can tell you exactly what you're going to say ten seconds from now." Gerard said once again. Mikey had the same reaction and said a small "okay". Five seconds in, Gerard spoke up.

"You were gonna say 'Pete Wentz and I are dating', correct?" He said quirking a thick eyebrow. Mikey stared at him in shock.

"H-How? What the fuck?" He stuttered and backed away a little in surprise. Hell yeah, Gerard's powers weren't kidding. He wouldn't be having horrible headaches if it weren't for them. Gerard shrugged and stood up from the bed.

"Like I said, I can bend time."

"But, that's not bending time! That's predicting."

"It's like this, I had you say it in another timeline, so right after you said it, I reversed time really quick and asked you the same questions. When I asked you that question, I already knew what you were going to say because of the other timeline." Gerard said in one breath.

"Nov _shit."_ Mikey pushed up the glasses slipping down his nose. Gerard stood in front of him, with his hands behind his back, unsure of what else to say.

"And I have to use them to save Frank." He gestured towards the letter left lying on the table nearby.

"So you, and Frank are _dating_?" Mikey raised air quotation marks with his fingers on the word 'dating'.

"Um, no?" Gerard said blushing furiously while looking down at his feet. Mikey jabbed him gently on the arm.

"Well, it's obvious your madly in love with him." Mikey smirked smugly.

"Wait, why'd you think of telling me about you and..." Gerard made wild hand gestures. Mikey just blushed as red as his brother.

"Uh, how else was I supposed to tell you?" Mikey rubbed the back of his neck and stared awkwardly at the floor. For the first time that week, Gerard laughed.

He stopped laughing all of a sudden upon seeing the time.

"Shit, we are skipping school, Mikes." He said when he saw that it was already way too late in the morning to be coming in.

"Yeah, I know, mom let us. So shut up and enjoy all your free time for the day." Mikey waved and went back upstairs, out of the basement and into the kitchen.

"Nice." Gerard said to himself and looked around his room, he was alone again.

He had some stuff to sort out today. And he needed all the time he could get.


	8. Surreal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took very long

When it happened, Gerard couldn't move, as if time froze itself, or maybe he did, he wasn't sure. Frank slowly crumpled to the floor of his bedroom, knees first. His eyes were closed and surprisingly, he held nothing in his hands. Gerard's vision blurred and he nearly fell over, he clutched the sides of his head as he struggled to see. He saw a blurry figure with sandy brown hair from behind. Frank fell forward, the back of his head pierced with a single bullet and blood oozed out of it, trickling down the side of his head, pooling around his hair.

 

"Gerard?" A voice cut through the silence. Gerard blinked and suddenly, everything was the way it was supposed to be. Frank sat in front of him, on the foot of his bed, no gashes, no blood, nothing. He was alive.

Gerard tackled him in a hug and started mumbling "shit, you're okay" repeatedly. Frank smiled softly and once Gerard got off he looked at him, concerned.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm okay." He said running a hand through his hair to get the falling locks out of the way.

"Frank, I..." Gerard started but then opted to shake it off and reached for Frank's hand to pull him up.

"I want to bring you somewhere, just, come on." Gerard had a bad feeling about staying the whole afternoon in Frank's room. He felt a little bad for dragging him out, considering the fact that Frank was still a little sick and recovering a from his fever.

"Oh, uh sure. Just let me get changed really-"

"N-No we don't have time." Gerard said bluntly and headed for the door. They needed to get out for awhile.

"Fucking hell, fine." Frank frowned and they hastily slipped on their Converses by the door, not even bothering to put on socks. Well, Gerard already had his on.

 

Frank had no idea why Gerard was in such a rush to get out the house suddenly. They were now driving down the street to who the fuck knows where in Gerard's car (borrowed from his mom).

"Okay, spit." Frank said finally, after they pulled up near sandy terrain. He caught a glimpse of the scenery. The sun was starting to sink, turning the sky into a flurry of purples, pinks, and oranges. He could hear the faint sound of water crashing against rocks, and the sound of them falling back into the pristine blue ocean. The beach. What was Gerard up to?

"Frank, look..." Gerard avoided his gaze from the driver's seat. He had to do this right, he didn't want to have a replay of this, it would feel like he'd cheated. No more do overs.

Frank stayed quiet, patiently waiting for him to speak. Gerard inhaled deeply and reached across the console and stick shift separating him from Frank. He took Frank's hand in his slowly and exhaled. Frank looked at him, dazed and confused.

"I actually... like you. A lot." Gerard started off, unsure of what to say. The waves tumbled in the distance. It felt like a horrible scripted rom-com. Or a sci-fi romance. Whatever. Fuck time traveling right now.

Frank was staring at him, perfect eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.

"Gerard... I don't..."He mumbled, loosening his grip on Gerard's sweaty palms. Gerard didn't know what else to say. Like, wasn't this supposed to be the part when they're kissing and professing their love and all that shit?

"N-Nevermind, I..." Gerard let go of Frank's hands and moved back into the driver's seat, feeling slightly embarrassed for that half assed confession. Frank looked even more confused.

"No wait," Frank reached across the console in between them and grabbed Gerard's hands. "Tell me. Please." Their eyes met and Gerard let out a little sigh. He looked down at their joined hands squeezed Frank's a little before looking back up. They were drawing closer, and soon enough, their lips were on each other's.

But of course, it didn't last long.

The moment the broke away and Gerard opened his eyes, he didn't meet hazel eyes. Frank was gone. In fact, it wasn't just Frank, everything was. He was surrounded in complete darkness, a colorless void. He stood up so fast and took in his surroundings, eyebrows scrunched up in confusion and eyes glazed with fear. What was this? What was happening?

And then, he was falling.

_"Gerard?"_

Gerard opened his mouth to call back to the voice, but nothing would come out. Frank needed him. He had no clue what was happening back in the world of reality.

Suddenly, Gerard was bolting up and smacked the back of his head against something wooden. There was light this time, filtering from the thin curtains, but not enough to fill the whole room. It casted a dim light, bringing out the shadows and highlights of the objects in the room, an old record player, a worn out drawer, and a pristine white guitar resting on a stand. Gerard knew exactly where he was. But he truly had no recollection of what happened in the time he had blacked out. Nothing at all. Where was Frank?

He turned to see angry red numbers staring back at him, as if they were mocking him. Time was taunting him.

October the thirty first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i havent been updating because i sort of lost my muse to continue this story and it isnt going as well as i thought it would
> 
> im not making any promises to finish this but there will probably only be 1-2 chapters left to wrap it up
> 
> thank you so much if you're still checking this out and all haha i appreciate it


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